Flashbacks to Band
by clarinetgirl15
Summary: This is the story of a tuba and clarinet player who fell pretty hard for eachother. Will they be able to survive the drama that comes with being in band?
1. Remembering

Two figures stood at the platform of the train 2-B. Both avoiding the fact that this train was tearing them apart inside and out.

She held on to him tight. Breathing in his scent for what probably was the last time.

"I can't believe this is all coming to an end." He finally spoke. Clearing his throat in the process.

"It bites." She spoken in a tear filled voice. He let out a slight chuckle remembering her old quote from high school.

He planted a kiss on the top of her head, and started smoothing out her hair. A tear fell from his face and landed on the top of her head.

She looked up at him, tears falling freely from her face, She brought her face to his and brushed her lips slightly against his. He kissed away the tears on her face, and brought her close to him again

"I love you. I'm never going to stop." He said, in a shaky voice.

She brought her face closer to his chest and muffled "I don't want you to stop.

A whistle sounded from the train telling the passengers to get onboard.

She pulled away from the embrace and looked up at him with the most painful look in her eyes he had ever seen.

He bent his head down to hers and firmly placed his lips over hers. She pulled him closer to her never wanting the kiss to end. It was a kiss full of sadness and pain, but it was the only keeping them together at the moment.

They broke away and placed there foreheads together.

"Bye" He whispered.

She only nodded. She couldn't find her voice, it was as if it was stuck in her throat.

He pulled away and held on to her hand until there arms couldn't reach anymore. She watched him get on the train. She watched him put his bag in the compartment above the window. She watched him gaze out the window as the train pulled away from the station. And the last thing she remembered watching was a tear fall from his face. She reached out her hand to whip it away but he was already fading off into the distance.

She managed to unglue her feet from the spot they were at, and walk to her car. She walked her car and turned on the radio and pulled onto the highway. Tears trickled down her face as she listened to the lyrics to song.

****

So you're leaving  
In the morning  
On the early train  
But I could say everything's alright  
And I could pretend and say goodbye

Got your ticket  
Got your suitcase  
Got your leaving smile  
Oh, I could say that's the way it goes  
And I could pretend and you won't know  
That I was lying

Because I can't stop loving you  
No, I can't stop loving you  
No, I won´t stop loving you  
Why should i

We took a taxi  
To the station  
Not a word was said  
And I saw you walk across the road  
For maybe the last time, I don't know

Feeling humble  
Heard a rumble  
On the railway track  
And when I hear the whistle blow  
I walk away and you won't know  
That i´ll be crying

Because I can't stop loving you  
No, I can't stop loving you  
No, I won't stop loving you  
Why should i

Even try  
I´ll always be here by your side (why why why)  
I never wanted to say goodbye  
I´m always here if you change, change your mind

So your leaving  
In the morning  
On the early train  
But I could say everything´s alright  
And I could pretend and say goodbye  
But that would be lying,no

Because I can´t stop loving you  
(can´t stop loving you)  
No, I can´t stop loving you  
(I won´t stop loving you)  
No, I won´t stop loving you  
Why should I even try  
Because I can´t stop loving you  
(can´t stop loving you)  
No, I can´t stop loving you  
(that´s all I can do)  
No, I won´t stop loving you  
Why should i  
(why should I)  
Why should i  
(tell me why)  
Why should I even try

She cut the radio off as she pulled into the driveway. She went into her house and instantly felt a feeling of emptiness wash over her. She walked into her room and reached far under her bed.

She pulled out her old scrap book with green and orange writing on it. She traced the title 'Memories' with her finger then flipped open the book. The first pictures were of marching season during her freshman year, she turned about 10 pages into and was greeted by her sophomore year. The year she met him.

There were pictures of them in there uniform together, and helping each other in there uniforms. There was one she liked in particular. It was him with his tuba and her clarinet his arm was around her and she was leaning against his shoulder. Looking happier then ever.

She remembered the day she met him. It was the week of the first football game….


	2. 20 shades of red

Josephine- clarinet player

Andrew- Tuba player

Josephine entered the band room and 6:45am feeling unusually tired. She walked over to her friends and plopped down on a chair.

"Wow Jo you look terrible." Her friend Jordan (clarinet player) commented.

"Thanks Jordan, love you too." She replied sarcastically. While shooting him a death glare that everyone noticed.

He got really close to her face and whispered "Is it that time of the month?"

She smirked. "I don't know. But do you want to risk it?" She wiggled her eyebrows seductively.

He back away and everyone started laughing.

Andrew walked up wondering what was so funny.

"Oh you just missed Jo burning Jordan to the ground."

"Okay as long as I didn't miss anything new. Josephine, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." She bounced out of her chair and followed him away from the crowd.

"I was wondering since you live so close to the school and all, if it would be okay if I park there on Friday for the game?"

"Oh yea sure that's fine."

"Thanks. I'll be by around 6:30." He winked at her, as if implying something, causing a blush to creep upon her cheeks.

"Okay sure." She tripped over her words.

They both walked towards there friends together.

"Soooooo what was that about?" T.J asked "You couldn't make out in front of us?"

"Oh please T.J."(saxophone player) Josephine said while rolling her eyes and sneaking a glance at Andrew, who seemed to have found something very interesting on his shoes. This brought a grin on her face.

next morning

'Yawn.' Josephine walked outside only to be greeted by a 98 Saturn pulling into her driveway.

Andrew got out of his car then opened his trunk to pull his backpack out. Then went to approach Josephine.

As she saw him walking towards her, she felt her heart try and beat right out of her chest.

"Thanks again for this Josephine."

"No problem. And just call me Jo. Make life a little easier."

He chuckled a bit. "Shall we?"

She just nodded and walked by him.

They talked the whole walk to school. (All 3 minutes of it). When they got there, the walked over to there usual spot outside with the rest of their friends.

"Hey sexy." T.J greeted her. Blowing her a kiss.

"Hey beautiful." Jo replied with a smile.

"T.J keep it in your pants." Jordan said while hitting him upside his head lightly.

Jordan and Andrew started talking about there bike ride plans for after practice. While Tom kept poking Jo's side.

"Will you stop it!" She screamed at him.

Jordan and Andrew snapped there heads towards them.

"T.J what are you doing?" Jordan asked him.

"This" He said while he poked Jo's side again laughing.

"Stop it!" She repeated, this time a little louder.

Andrew just started laughing at her as she chased T.J around. He decided to join in on the fun. He ran over to Jo and caught her around her waist and tossed her over his shoulder. Out of experienced she assumed it was Jordan.

"Jordan put me down." She said while laughing.

"Hey don't drag me into this. I'm over here." He walked in front of her, proving it wasn't him holding her.

She spun her head around to see she was being carried by Andrew. She blushed about 20 times red.

"Don't let her go buddy. My life depends on it." T.J was hollering in the distance.

"Oh no worries there blondie." (A/N: T.J has blonde hair and he's short remember that.)

"Not cool." Jo whimpered. Hitting his back trying her get him to let her down.

"Now, now there is no need for that." He started spinning around in fast circles cause Jo to grab onto his back out of fright.

Everyone around them was laughing and shouting comments.

'Brrriiiiinnnnggg'

"Saved by the bell." Andrew said as he gently placed me on her feet.

She tried to compose herself and come up with a smart remark but in the end all she did was shot him a look that said 'I'll get you back.'

They both headed for separate directions. Him to Math, and her to Spanish.


	3. Thinking

Once inside Spanish Jo replayed the events of that morning over and over again in her head. She couldn't quiet understand why he did that. Not that she minded of course, but it just caused a whole mess about her feelings. About both their feelings.

_Okay so I like her. Maybe I like her. Do I like her? Gosh, this wasn't suppose to happen. It was suppose to be a simple favor. Nothing more!_

"Andrew? The answer to number 4. Andrew!"

By hearing his name Andrew was knocked out of his trance.

"Oh umm… the answer is…..?" Franticly he flipped through the pages of his book trying to figure out where they were.

"Andrew?" he looked up Mrs. Brown confused. "See me after class."

He lets out an agonizing sigh and slipped back into his dream land.

(end of class)

"Andrew I'm worried about you. You're an 'a' student, its not like you to dos off in my class."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Brown I've jus had a lot on my mind."

"You better figure it out quickly, for your own sake."

'Andrew pro's con's.' Josephine was in the middle of yet another pro con list. Anytime she couldn't rely on herself to figure something out she relied on her straight logic.

The only problem was that the pro list was pretty full while the con list had a grand total of zip. It just didn't make any sense to her.

_The last thing I need right now is the emotional issues that comes from developing a crush on someone. And then being rejected by them._

"Josephine?"

"Yes Mr. Smith?"

"The bell rang about 2 minutes ago." He said while impatiently tapping his fingers against his desk considering this was his planning period.

"Oh my gosh!" She dashed out of there so fast she left her pro con list on her desk.

Curiosity took over the teacher and he walked over to her desk and snatched up the piece of paper. After gazing over it he decided Josephine had enough problems and didn't need him embarrassing her being added to that list, and in one quick movement he crumbled the list and tossed it in the waste basket.

_At least I can take some refuge in band. _

_At least I can take a break in band class. _

At that moment they both realized they had band with each other, and if that couldn't get any worse they coincidently crashed right into each other.

Since Andrew was much more built and Jo just slim and petite the crash sent her heading straight for the ground.

"Oh wow Jo I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." He stopped his babbling and gladly grabbed her hand and hoisted her up.

"Its ok don't worry about it. It was just as much my fault, but thanks for helping me up."

That's when they both realized they were still holding on to each others hand. Turning about 10 shaded of red right there, they both dropped the others hand rather quickly and regretfully.

The warning bell gave a screech and everyone headed towards there classes.

"I guess we better get to band or well have to do pushups during practice." he suggested.

"Yeah that wouldn't be much fun." She took off towards the class with him close at her heels.

Lucky for them the bell rang just as they walked in.

"Andrew! If you want to go make out with your girlfriend then far be it for me to stop you but don't be late. Especially when we have sectionals today! " shouted the tuba section leader.

"What Rob? I'm not late." Roared Andrew back in response, looking rather red at the comment about him and Jo. While Josephine suddenly found the floor very interesting.

"Still you cut it pretty close I should make you do push ups." The tuba section leader (Rob) was nice but when it came to matters with his section he turned mean and strict as can be.

Jo was smiling as Andrews faced dropped at having to do pushups.

"You to Jo!" Her face suddenly lost its humor. Andrew gave her kind of a 'ha-ha' smirk.

"Hey, why don't you boss around your own section and let me handle my own." Steve (clarinet section leader) said as he placed a careless arm around Josephine's shoulder, steering her towards there section. She turned around and gave Andrew the same smirk he had given her, and he just shot his tongue out at her as a response.

The rest of the band class went by pretty uneventful. Jo and Andrew kept stealing glances at each other and Prenton (the band director) kept stressing the important of tonight's football game and how it was the first one of the season, and that there had been a change of schedule.

Instead of playing Depoint like planned they principles changed it to South Street instead.

This made Josephine's ears perk up, because south street is the school that her ex- boyfriend goes to. And if that couldn't make it any worse he was in the band as a percussion player.

She didn't even notice when the rest of her section got up to go to there assigned practice room.

"Jo come on." her friend Danielle shouted to her.

"Dan? Did you hear the name of the school were playing?" Jo asked in a rather shaky voice.

"Yeah, I take it you haven't seen him since the a incident. Have you? "

"No, I haven't." Jo said quietly mainly to herself.

A/N: And the plot thickens. Review!


	4. My car

4th period bell rang and Josephine dashed there as fast as she could. This was a major problem. She hadn't expected to see Tom at least for another month.

Tom was an ex-boyfriend and they had gone out 4 times before they realized they weren't meant to be. Or before Jo realized they weren't meant to be. At concert festival they bumped into each other and Tom and Jo ended up making out behind the school. It was not one of Jo's finer moments. She had completely cut him off since then.

There was a sub in her last class which meant watch a movie. But Jo wasn't paying attention to it. Her mind was else where. She knew she couldn't handle seeing Tom again. It was certainly going to be a drama filled evening.

Her mind wandered for the remainder of class. When the bell rang she made her way back to the band room trying to fill her mind with positive thoughts.

_He may have gotten sick._

_He could have dropped out of band._

_They may not be taking the drum line. _

She went over to her seat and realized she had forgotten her shorts at home. It was about 95 degrees so she wasn't about to go with them. Her house was only around the corner. She'd be back with plenty of time to spare.

Jo made her way to the exit door and walked outside.

"Hey Jo, where are you running off to?" Jessica (flute player) asked her.

"Home I forgot my shorts." Jo replied blankly.

"You better hurry." She said tapping on her watch laughing and she walked away.

"Don't worry I got a half an hour." Josephine was walking backwards while saying this and accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry" she said quickly and embarrassed while turned around.

She really shouldn't have been surprised to see it was Andrew she bumped into. He chuckled at her.

"I guess we seem to be bumping into each other a lot today."

She laughed nervously not really sure what to say.

"Since your going back to your house, we should walk together."

She gave him a confused look as to why he was going to her house.

"My car." He replied reading her expression.

"Oh right." Jo hit her palm to her forehead. "I've been kind of out of it lately, lots on my mind."

They began walking and a silence fell over them. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence either. It was a calm and peaceful quietness each one still glancing at the other, trying to comprehend what exactly was going on between them.

"So you excited about the first game?" Andrew asked trying to break the silence.

"Oh yeah, can't wait." She replied in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Is there something wrong?" He thought he said something offensive.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry. I'm just really not looking forward to the game. Or rather who were playing."

"Why not?" He asked lightly not knowing if he was prying too much.

"Lets just say there's someone there I'm afraid to see again."

He nodded knowing that he should leave it at that.

"He's an ex-boyfriend, and we ended things on a bad note and I don't want to see him." The words spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Jo didn't know why but she felt she could tell this to Andrew.

"Oh." He said it in a tone that surprised him. He was jealous. But what he couldn't figure out was why. He was just an ex. "I'm sure it will all work out, and if he starts anything I'll come rescue you."

He gave her an encouraging smile, and a wink. This made Jo blush and give back a small but considerate smile.

"Here we are." He declared as we stopped in front of my house.

"You don't have to wait. I can walk back." She said while walking towards her door.

"I would wait forever for you madam." He made a bowing gesture.

She laughed and did a certice and walked inside.

"Hi mom." Josephine said and she ran to her room. She grabbed her shorts out of her closet and quickly replaced her pants with them. She snatched a hair tie off her dresser and ran out the door. Not bothering to say goodbye to her mother.

"Wow, thirty seconds. Impressive." Andrew said while looking at his watch.

"What happened to the gentlemen caller?" Jo grinned while pretending to look around. "I liked him better." She added as an after thought.

"Right so sorry." He walked over to the passenger door and opened it with his arm gesturing toward the opened door.

"You chariot madam."

Why don't you just be Andrew?"

"That I can do."

Jo glanced at her watch and realized they had 10 minutes before practice started.

"Can you also drive fast?" She asked panicking.

"Why?"

"Cause we have 9 minutes."

His face had a look of terror on it and they both jumped in the car and Andrew started speeding down the road.

"I'll just park by the football field." He said trying to calm himself down.

"You cant we need out instruments."

"Damn! Sorry didn't mean to curse." (Everyone knows that if you're late to a practice you can't play in the game. And with it being the first game of season they were going to be doing push ups for the rest of there life.)

Jo laughed it off. "I think right now you kind of have a right to."

"New plan park by the band room and we run like crazy to the football field."

"Works for me"

They dashed into the band room and Andrew ran to the wall with all the tubas and grabbed his while instrument. While Jo put her clarinet together and they ran out of the room. Technically they had 3mintues to get to the other side of the school. They dashed through the senior parking lot and onto the field. They ran to there spots and acted like they had been there the whole time.

Then they heard there directors voice come over the intercom. "Mr. Callbret (Andrews last name) Ms. Bates I expect 10 pushups from both of you, and if you ever cut it that close again you'll both be watching the show from the sidelines."

They dropped down and did there 10 while everyone waited around impertinently.

Right before the half time show

"Okay everyone gather around. And hold someone else's shoulder" Mr. Prenton said as he was about to give his famous halftime speech. "Now this is our first performance. But let's not let them think that. Now bow your heads and think about your spots and how it looks. Perfect intervals, rolling your feet, staying in step. Now let's show South Street how it's done. Are you ready! "

"YEAH!" the rest of the band replied.

Then everyone gathered around in there sections for the section leader speech which was pretty much the same as Prenton's just different wording. After that everyone went to line up on the sidelines while trying to hug everyone.

"Hey Jo!" Someone called to her. She whipped her head around to see Andrew trying to catch up to her, with his Tuba balanced on his shoulders.

"Hey you." She replied.

"Good luck" they both said to the other at the same time.

They went to hug each other, it was awkward at first but as soon as they held the other neither wanted to let go. They seemed to fit perfectly together. Little did they know that a certain pit player from the other school was watching there extra long hug, and his blood was indeed boiling.


	5. 3rd quater break

Given the fact that it was only the first show of the season, both bands only played there openers. So they half-time show only lasted about 7mintues in total.

As they exited the field people were congratulating each other on a job well done. And a great start to the new season. Unfortunately Josephine's mind was far from all that. She was worried about Tom. She knew he would try and pull something, she only hoped to God she was wrong.

The band crawled back into the stands and removed there hats and gloves and set them gently down beside there instruments. After everyone was sure all there stuff was secure they all lurched to stairs to free then from the stands.

The bands had some of half-time left and all of third quarter and this unsuccessfully eased Jo's worries.

She ventured off to the far end of the fence and peered through the fence to the portables. She just wanted to climb the fence and hide in one of the portables until it was time to go back to the band room.

"Hey you." A voice spoke from behind her. She knew that voice all to well.

She spun around to see Tom hovering over which no doubt made her a tad bit uncomfortable.

"H-h-e-yy" She managed to stammer out.

"I would hug you but we have the goddamn PDA rule." he said mockingly, and Jo mentally thanked every band director in the world for coming up with that rule.

A long silence hung in the air and Josephine did the best she could to break it. "You guys did a really good job."

Silence.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." He finally blurted out.

Jo then came into realization that she was up against a fence and very far away from the rest of the crowd. She mentally kicked herself for being so incredibly stupid.

"Tom…I…" But her cut her off.

"I thought maybe we could go somewhere and talk."

"We are somewhere were we can talk." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"No, I meant somewhere move private." He moved his eyes suggestively to a spot under the bleachers.

Jo crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm thinking not."

Tom put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her into the fence.

"Tom…?" She asked.

"How could I have been so stupid?" He started laughing in a tone that scared Josephine. "I actually thought things have changed. I thought we could finally be together."

"I'm sorry things have changed, we've changed." She wanted to tell him off and push him away but he easily overpowered her in weight and height.

"Liar!" He spat out. "You're a bitch." He punched her across her face.

She had heard from one of her friends that went to school with Tom that he was violent. But she never thought he would actually hit her.

Tear were welling up in Josephine's eyes as she felt the pain surging through her face but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting the tears fall.

Luckily she didn't have to worry about that for much longer. The next thing she knew Tom was being pulled away from her.

"What the hell!"Tom shouted.

It was Andrew who had grabbed Tom. His eyes were full of fire and anger. He looked as if he was trying really hard not to rip Tom'shead off.

"Obviously no one taught how to act civil." Andrews's voice was full of anger and rage. "Allow me to teach you." He grabbed Tom's collar and pulled his face to him. "Lesson one; never hit a girl unless you have a suicide wish." He let go of Tom and went to grab Jo's arm to take her back to the stands, but Tom had other plans.

Tom jumped in front of her. "Shove off, before I have rearranged your face." He grabbed Jo's arm and tried to pull her away, and Andrew pushedTom out of the way.

"Man you just don't know when to give up." With all of his might and fury Tom punched Andrew right in the face. Jo let out a gasp and clamped her hands over her mouth out of shock.

Andrew quickly recovered from the blow and charged at Tom. Catching him around the waste and pumbled him to the ground. They were both rolling on the floor attacking each other with punches.

"Guys! STOP IT!" Jo was screaming at them, trying to get them to stop. It didn't seem to be working though. In fact the only thing it did was draw a small crowd over.

She looked off in the distance and saw both band directors rushing over.

"STOP IT NOW!" Jo tried one last time in a desperate attempt.

All of sudden and ear piercing whistle filled the air. The crowd scattered away like a bunch of thief's fleeing the scene of a crime.

When both band directors reached them Prenton had his whistle in his mouth prepared to blow it again if necessary. Tom and Andrew were both on there feet and holding on to the collar of the others jacket both red in the face breathing heavy and there tempers flaring.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" The south street band director asked. (Ms. Schurmenn)

Both boys let go of each other and faced there band director with Jo standing in the middle. Prenton took this time to examine the students. Tom had a few scratches, nothing serious, Anthony however had a nice shiner below his right eye and his lip was bleeding and slightly swollen, but what shocked him the most was when he noticed a large bruise forming on Josephine's left cheek.

"Ms Bates take Mr. Callbret to the concession stand and go in the back room and get him some ice for his eye, then wait there and I'll be there in a little while."

Jo nodded but Andrew hadn't tore his glare from Tom. Jo had to grab his arm and pull him away.

Neither spoke the whole way there, Jo kept lightly tracing the area were Tom had punched her. She wanted to cry. She want to just crawl in a whole and hide forever.

They got to stand and went into the back. It was pretty much deserted. Andrew slumped angrily slumped down in a chair, while Jo looked for some ice and a sandwich bag to put it in. One she retrieved the items she took a chair and pushed the front of it to the front of Andrews. She placed the ice over his bruise.

He winced from the pain of the impact.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." This time she let the tears fall from her eyes. Andrew took her hand that was holding the ice pack and pulled it from his eye.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry I didn't get you away from that monster soon enough."

Josephine didn't know how to respond to that, so she just looked down. Andrew the noticed he was still holding her hand, but he didn't drop it or jump away; he took his other hand and cupped her cheek pulling her head up. He wiped her tears away with his thumb.

Andrew brought his face down to meet hers and pressed his lips lightly against hers. It was brief and lasted no more then 10 seconds but it was more then enough. They heard the door the creak open and both quickly jumped apart.

Mr. Prenton walked in and surprisingly enough he wasn't accompanied by Ms. Schurmenn.

"Now, I heard Mr. Strombuell's side of the story, but judging by both of your appearance I can pretty much guess what happened myself. However I must ask your side of the story."

They dove right into the story, starting with how Tom snuck up and Jo, and ending with the fight between Andrew and Tom. Neither took a breath the whole time.

"Okay calm down, and sit down." Mr. Prenton said, and motioned to the two chairs. "I'm assuming both of you have your own means of transportation home."

"I have my car." Andrew said.

"And I walk." Jo said. Prenton looked rather skeptical about this.

"I'm giving her a ride home." Andrew toned in.

"Good." And the director continued. "I want both of you to retrieve your belongings from the band room and go home. You don't need to be bombarded by all the students."

He turned to leave but Andrew called out to him. "Mr. Prenton. Are we in trouble? I mean is there a risk we'll get kicked out of band?"

Prenton turned to face them and took in a breath. "No. I know that technically you should be, but I wont allow it, because personally I would have done the same thing had I been in your shoes. I'm very proud of both of you." With that he departed the room.

Both Josephine and Andrew stood there trying to sink in all of there band directors words.

"I guess we should get going." Jo simply nodded and followed him out.

They walked outside and followed the long path to the band room. (A/N: Mr. Prenton had someone bring them there instruments and hats and gloves.)

Andrew took Jo's hand and entwined there fingers together. She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

They walked to the band room in silence. Just enjoying each others company and knowing they had dodged a huge bullet.

When they got into the band room they went there separate ways to put there stuff away. Andrew set his Tuba on the rack and Jo put her clarinet in its case. Both took off there uniforms and put them in there bags, happy to be rid of it. Jo pulled her hair out of its braid and let it fall loosely on her shoulders. It had a slight bounce to it cause of the braid.

"I'll pull the car around so we don't need to drag all this stuff out there."

"Sounds good." With that he walked out leaving Jo on her own to gather her thoughts.


	6. The Diner

Seeing how Josephine only lived around the corner, the car ride was brief and silent. Andrew pulled the car over in front of her house and shut off the engine.

"Interesting first game." Andrew said in a mere attempt to break the silence.

"Somehow I don't think 'interesting' is the right word." Josephine said giving a dry chuckle.

"I should go. Thanks for the ride." Jo reached into the back and grabbed her uniform and clarinet. Just as she had her hand on the doorknob Andrew reached for her wrist. Josephine turned to face him and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Just trying to let everything sink in. Then Andrew leaned forward and kissed her. She kissed him back. It was a simple pure kiss. They broke away after a few short seconds but it still left Jo and Andrew grinning from ear to ear.

She exited his car and proceeded towards her front door. In the faint distance she could hear the band marching back into the band room. She felt a mixture of emotions of anger jealousy and sadness. After how hard they all worked it didn't seem fair that she didn't get to march back with the rest of her fellow band members. Josephine trudged up to her front door, and turned back to give Andrew one more smile. Once she was inside Andrew started up his car and drove off. Thinking of the long story that would await him once he returned home.

"What are you doing home so soon?" Jo's dad asked her as he approached her. He stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted the bruise forming on his daughters cheek.

"Oh my gosh. What happened?" Her mother gasped when she saw her.

"Oh this." Josephine pointed to the bruise casually. "This is from a run in with a trumpet. Literally." She gave a convincing laugh. She didn't want to tell her parents about Tom punching her. She was sure her parents would call the cops and she didn't want to deal with any of that.

"Is that why your home early?" Her mom handed her an icepack.

"Thanks, and no. I think we should all sit down." Jo motioned towards the kitchen.

Josephine and her family gathered around in the living room while she told them what happened. Leaving out the part about her being hit. But you get the general idea.

"What's going to happen to this guy?" Her dad asked. You could tell he was pissed.

"Prentons taking care of it. Andrew and I aren't in trouble. So we really have nothing to worry about."

Her mom opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when the doorbell rang.

Josephine's dad got up to answer it, muttering something about crappy timing and it being to late for visitors.

"Oh Jordan come on in."

Jo put her head down on the end table in frustration. She really didn't want Jordan to see or like this. Or anyone else for that matter.

She looked up at him when he entered the room and he looked and at her bruise and suddenly stepped back in shock. He had heard what happened but for some reason seeing his best friend like that just made his anger level rise more. Jo shot him look saying 'she'd tell him later and please don't mention anything'. Luckily he understood and kept his mouth shut.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come to the diner." Jordan's asked.

"I don't know if I feel up to it." Jo answered truthfully.

"Go honey, get you out of the house." He slipped her a $10 and she was whisked out the of door from Jordan. Once outside he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back equally as tight, clinging to him for all there friendship was worth.

"You okay?" He asked soothingly.

"Yeah." She whispered softly in his ear.

They broke apart and Jordan's eyes immediately gazed at her cheek.

"I told my parents everything, expect that Tom did this to me. I said I banged into a trumpet."

Jordan nodded knowing there was no way to change her mind about it, and he partly understood why she did it. Especially with her parents.

He steered her over to his car and they both got in.

They both fastened there seatbelts and Jordan pulled onto the main road.

"I just have one question." Jordan said.

"Yeah?" Jo asked.

She noticed her was gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Can I kill him?" His voice sounded so serious it nearly scared her.

She didn't answer him, she didn't know how the respond to that. Instead she reached for his I-pod and put it on 'Bryan Adams, 18 till I die.' It was kind of like there song. Jordan had introduced her to it a two years ago and Josephine instantly fell in love with the lyrics. Every time one of them was upset the other would flip that on and it just made things a little easier.

"I'd rather you didn't." She finally answered his question. They stopped at a red light and Jordan looked at her all serious, which oddly enough caused Jo to burst out laughing. He looked at her puzzled but soon joined in with her giggles. Jordan turned up the volume allowing the music to blast through the car with both of them singing along with it like the idiots they were and loved to be.

They pulled into the diner just as the song ended. A sudden wave of nervousness passed over Josephine as she got out of his car. They walked inside and Jo was instantly bombarded by a group of her friends. The majority of the band was there. It was a small little diner but they went there after every game. The owner got a kick out of them so he gave them a great discount.

A bunch of girls pulled Josephine away telling her things like 'Tom's a jerk.' and 'Andrew's an awesome guy for defending her.' They all gasped at her bruise. One of the flute players even started digging through her purse for a cover up that matched Josephine's skin type.

"Wait wait wait wait, How did you all find out?" Jo asked kind of confused.

"I told them." A voice spoke from behind her.

She whipped her head around only to be greeted by the most gorgeous blue eyes of her boyfriend.

"These two" he pointed to his fellow tuba members. "Came over to my house and dragged me over here and I told everyone figuring you wouldn't want to repeat the story."

"Thank you." She smiled at her gratefully.

"How did your parents take it?" He asked her his voice full of concern.

"Oh um. I told them everything except Tom hitting me. So they think I got this bruise from being hit from Ryan's trumpet on accident."

"Gee thanks." Ryan spoke up from the crowd. Andrew pulled Josephine from the crowd into a secluded area.

"Why did you lie to your parents?" His voice was full of concern and worry.

Josephine drew in a long breath before speaking. "My parents would have wanted to press charges and I really don't want to deal with all that, plus they'd put me in therapy convinced I was mental from the whole ordeal."

Andrew nodded showing he understood. And he couldn't really blame her. She sounded like she just wanted to put this trial behind her.

"So how did your parents take it?" Her voice snapping him out of his trance.

"After my mom stopped fussing at me and I got a chance to tell them what happened they weren't mad. They were even proud of me."

She grabbed his hand. "I'm glad I would hate if you got in trouble over all this."

Andrew squeezed her hand and whispered "It would have been worth it."

Josephine smiled and was very grateful to have him by her side.

They walked back over to the rest of there group.

Andrew put his arms around Jo's waist and laid his head down on her shoulder.

"We figured we would go pay Tom a visit and teach him a lesson." Samuel the band president said. The other guys nodded there heads in agreement.

Josephine detached herself from Andrew approached Samuel and gave him a hug around the middle, seeing as he was much taller then her.

"I appreciate it guys and I feel so lucky and blessed to have friends like you. In fact your so much more then friends, you're my family and I love all of you, but I think Andrew left more then enough damage." Josephine stated giving her boyfriend a confident boast.

Andrew puffed out his chest and held his nose in the air everyone broke out in laughter.

"Okay enough of this gushy stuff as your band president I demand all of you to sit down eat and laugh." Samuel said in a compelling tone

That was one order everyone was willing to agree to. Everyone grabbed a seat at one of the two large tables set aside for them.

The waitress came around and took all of the orders. Josephine didn't realize how hungry she was until she smelt the food coming from the kitchen. She ordered a Belgium waffle with strawberries. Fortunately no more was spoken of Tom which Josephine was grateful for. They just sat together and talked and laughed and acted insane and Jo loved every second of it.

When the checks came around Andrew snatched hers up. (Both Andrews parents are lawyers, so he has a lot of money.)

After a long argument and protest from Jo about being very capable to pay her own food Andrew still paid it.

"Come on Jo lets go." Jordan called to her from the exit

"Its okay Jordan I can take her home." Andrew walked up to him with Jo at his side.

Jordan started laughing. "You actually think I'm letting you take her home at one o'clock in the morning you two haven't kept your hands off each other all night."

"Hey! Not true!" Josephine blushed knowing it kind of was true.

"To bad, I'll drag you by your hair if I have to." Jordan smiled at her and she laughed.

"Okay I'll be there in a minute." She told him. Jordan walked out of the diner.

Josephine faced Andrew. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

"Oh most defiantly." Andrew responded grinning at her.

He caressed her cheek with his hand and then pulled her face to his and kissed her goodnight.

"Its amazing how one minute turns into 7." Jordan grabbed Josephine's arm and pulled her out of the restaurant.

"See you later Andrew." Jordan sad as him and Jo approached his car.

"Bye Jordan." Andrew replied while chuckling to himself.

He sat in his car and watched Jo and Jordan leave. He smiled to himself not yet knowing how much of an effect this red head ,who had walked into his life to unexpectedly, would have on him.


	7. A suprising announcment

A/N: I'm so so so so so sorry it took me so long to update. Life's been crazy but I'm going to get back into the story so hopefully I'll be updating around once a week.

Practice the following Tuesday was murder. The heat was so bad that Prenton was forced to giving the band water breaks every forty five minutes.

Everyone was lying around on the concrete of the parking lot to exhausted from the heat to move.

"Today on the next edition of band practice the heat continues to pound on the innocent band students. The sun is slowly closing in on them. Will they survive or will the heat melt them all to oblivion?" One of the trombone players (Matt) started saying in an announcer type voice.

"Just when we were all beginning to get over the heat you had to go and not only remind us about it but make it feel like its 30 degrees hotter than it is. Thanks Matt." Amy, one of the drum majors, scolded at him.

"Any time Ms. Drum major mam." Matt hoisted his head up long enough to wink at her than dropped it back down.

Jo was over with the rest of the clarinets on the imaginary 20 yard line. Her clarinet was resting peacefully on her stomach while her New York hat was covering her eyes. She heard someone clear their throat, and felt a shadow above her. She removed her hat and saw Andrew standing over her with two cups of water in hand. She sat up while he sat down next to her and handed her one of the cups.

"Did you know that you're a god? I'm going to have a statue in my backyard built for you." Jo began praising him while gulping down the water.

He chuckled. "Well you don't have to go through all that. But you could go out with me on Saturday night."

"I think I can manage that." Jo replied with a bright smile on her face. It would be their first date and she was already excited. "Where are we going?"

"That is for me to know and you to find out." Andrew smirked and took a sip of his water.

Just then a loud voice began booming over the speakers. "Okay guys it is to hot out here to continue practice so your done for the day." Band students began cheering and calling Prenton the greatest man that ever lived. Prenton smiled at this and added "Before you all run off the comforts of the A.C in your cars I ask that you meet me in the band room in five minutes for an announcement."

Everyone jumped up grabbed their instruments and cases and ran to the band room to take refuge in the cool room.

After Prenton was sure everyone was piled in he began his speech. "First off I just want to say that I love all of you and you are without a doubt the best band that ever graced South Carolina." Everyone looked at each other with worried glances. This couldn't be good. Prenton drew in a deep breath and continued. "As you all know I was in the hospital this past summer and because of that I will be retiring earlier than scheduled. This will be my final year with this band. My doctors think the stress is too much for me and if I continue I'll be signing my own death certificate, and after what happened this summer I'm afraid their right. So I have said my peace and I hope you all understand." Prenton walked off the podium and entered his office while his students stood their shocked and unable to move.

Jo looked around and perceived all the said faces around her. Prenton was a great man and a wonderful director. He cared about his students. When Jo's dad lost her job earlier that year and couldn't afford to pay the band dues Prenton arranged to have the boosters pay for her fair share and uniform rental, and got them to agree to pay for her private lessons so she could remain in the symphonic band. She loved this man like a father and looking around she realized she wasn't the only one.

After about ten minutes people's feet began to unglue themselves from the floor and they began to pile out of the band room. Andrew met up with Jo outside and hugged her tightly.

"It's to not fair." She mumbled into his chest.

"I agree. But it's his health; it's not as if he wants this." He didn't want to admit it but it was tearing him up inside to think that his senior year would not be spent with that bright old man.

"I know." She let go of him and began to gather her stuff off the ground.

"Come on. I'll give you a ride." He offered to her while trying to grab some of her things.

"No thanks I'm good. Besides you've got a lesson to get to mister."

He laughed but nodded his head in agreement. "Okay I'll call you later."

She pulled him down and kissed him lightly on the lips before heading off. When she was by the pool Craig stopped her.

"You want a ride home?"

"No, its okay Craig. You know I live around the corner."

"Please." She looked at him and realized there was a trace of desperateness in his eyes. She knew that he didn't want to give her a ride home to be polite he needed someone to talk to and he didn't know how to.

"Which way to your car?" And they started off towards the parking lot.

Once inside Craig went to start the car but Jo stopped him. "What do you think about all this?"

Craig didn't reply. He didn't know how. This was too much for him to handle. Jo noticed his eyes beginning to glisten over and immediately wrapped him up in hug. He began to resist at first but then gave in and cried his heart out.

Jo knew this was more than just about Prenton. Craig's mother had been in Iraq fighting the war for a year now and she still wouldn't be coming back for another year. His dad was hardly ever home. He was a social worker and was barley around. Jo knew Craig was crying for his loneliness. He was crying because Prenton was another person on the list of people who had walked out of Craig's life.

Okay a few minutes Craig's crying slowed down until it was a mere sniffle. He pulled back and looked at Jo with gratitude in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I opened all this on you."

Jo simply smiled. "I'm not. It's good to show emotion every now and then. It reminds people that you are actually human. And there are plenty of people are here for you to listen to you if you need to talk."

"Thanks." He started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Anytime."

It is difficult to describe Jo and Craig's friendship. They had known each other since sixth grade and they have always been rivals. They both played equally at the clarinet but they have always tried to get one step ahead of the other. Of course it was all clean fun and they were friends but there was more to it than that. They could sense each other. They knew each other's emotions, feelings, fears. They never really hung out outside of school but something about the clarinet, about their music had given them that gift. Jo was the only person Craig would let see cry they never talked about it, and she never told a soul. The night Craig's mom was called to Iraq he showed up at Jo's house 2am and she just held him in her drive way while he cried and cursed the world. He kissed her that night and both felt nothing. They knew no romantic involvement could ever happen between them and that kiss confirmed it.

They pulled up to Jo's house and Craig grabbed her backpack before she could protest and walked her to the door.

"Thanks you know for that." Craig muttered nervously.

"You're welcome. You know if you need to _**talk**_ I'm here." She said stressing the word talk. She was grateful Craig came to her to at least cry but he needed to do more than that. She was worried if he didn't talk to someone soon he might explode of pent up emotion.

"Yeah I know. Any maybe I'll take you up on that." With that being said he handed her, her back pack and drove away. She trudged inside and went straight to the shower to remove the sweat that was covering her entire body.

When Jo got out of the shower and dressed she heard her cell phone going off and dashed to the living room to retrieve it from her backpack.

"Hello?" She sounded completely out of breath.

"Hey sexy. Why so out of breath? Where you doing the nasty with Andrew?"

"T.J shut up." They both laughed. "I was running to get the phone but if I had known it was you I wouldn't have bothered. "

"Ouch! I'm hurt and here I called for math but fine I'll hang up."

Jo laughed at his childish antics. "I'm only kidding. Let me get my algebra book and we'll get started."

T.J and Jo have been friends since 2nd grade when Jo first moved from New York to Sound Carolina. They were super close. Since they had the same math class they did their homework together over the phone. It was convenient since if one didn't know a problem the other was right there in their ear.

Once they were done tackling evil math problems they hung up. Jo decided to give Dan a call. Daniela was Jo's best girlfriend. They both played clarinet and knew everything about the other. They considered themselves sisters and it was rare to find one around without to other one to far behind.

"Hey Dan." Jo greeted when Dan picked up.

"Hey Jo!" Dan always did have this unknown endless energy.

They chatted for a half an hour just on the game and the surprise announcement at practice. Dan was just ad upset about it as Jo and both feared what the new band director would be like.

Around 9 Jo got a text from Andrew saying he was stuck with his parents and wouldn't be able to call her tonight. She replied that it was okay and wished him goodnight. It was early but Jo was exhausted from such an emotional day that she just crawled under her covers and passed out.


	8. First Date

Andrew walked into the band room Wednesday morning but wasn't greeted to the usual sounds that were typically withheld in the band room. The flute weren't giggling about the latest gossip. The section leaders weren't huddled in the corner arguing over the practice room schedule. The drummers weren't furiously tapping on their drums. Everyone was just sitting in silence; it felt like each person was too afraid to say what they were really thinking. He couldn't take it all the depression so he darted out of the room and headed up to the library.

He really shouldn't have been shocked to find his girlfriend curled up in one of the arm chairs in the back with her face buried in a book. She was a major bookworm and took solitude in books, they were here escape. He sat down in the arm chair next to hers and watched her. She looked surprisingly well rested but her hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her clothes were extremely baggy for such warm weather. It looked as if she was trying to crawl into them and hide, it made him want to hug her and so he did.

The action startled Jo at first, she hadn't even noticed her was there but once her senses kicked in she returned the hug.

"What's up babe? You ok?" Andrew's voice was filled with concern.

"Yeah I'm okay. I just couldn't stand the band room. Have you been in their yet? It feels like someone died." She marked the page in her book and set in down by her bag.

Andrew nodded his head in agreement. "I couldn't stand it. That's why I came up here."

"How was hanging out with your parents last night?"

"Splendid." Andrew's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "They once again spent the entire evening telling me how I should become a lawyer like them because all being a doctor will get me is a lifetime of malpractice suits."

"Nice to know they think so highly of their son's future that they automatically assume you'll screw up every patient that comes your way and get sued for it."

"I've told you my parents were always practical and never took any risks. My dad always walks around saying 'Why take the risky road when the safe roads guaranteed."

"Funny, sounds the opposite of my parents." Jo felt bad for Andrew. It sounded as if his parents were picking his future while her parents always taught her to do what she wanted to do. "But I'm positive you can be whatever you want to be" She took his hands in both of hers causing him to look at her. "And I'm even more positive that you're going to make a great doctor."

"You're wonderful. Did you know that?" Before she could reply Andrew's lips were on hers. It was a short kiss since they were in the library and there were faculty around.

"BRRRRIIIINNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!" The bell blasted over the intercom system.

The couple walked out of the library with twenty or so other students all rushing to first period.

"I'll walk you to class." Andrew offered.

"No its okay. Your class is on the other side of the school and I don't want you to be late because you were walking me to class. Especially since it's not necessary my class is just down the hall."

"Okay I get the feeling I'm not going to win this one."

She laughed and gave his hand a squeeze before walking towards her class. Andrew took off for his math class. He figured if he ran he'd have a shot at making it there before the bell. As luck would have it Andrew darted right through the door just as the bell gave its final shout.

"Cutting it a little close aren't we Mr. Callbret?"

"Sorry mam." Andrew walked toward his seat behind his best friend Adam. Adam was the section leader for the French horns. There were no senior French horn players so Adam had been given the job which didn't bother him any; he was more than happy to take it when Prenton offered it to him.

"Dude why were you almost late?" Adam asked while turning around in his seat.

"I was talking with Josephine." Andrew said giving a simple answer.

"Awww that's sweet." Adam started fluttering his eyelashes and making his voice go high pitch. Andrew just rolled his eyes. "How's that going anyway?" Adam asked in his normal voice.

"It's going good. It's going really good."

"She's not your usual type of girl man. You usually go for the flutes or color guard. You know the ones that doll themselves up and walk and talk and act all pretty. (A/N: I mean no offense to any flute or color guard player. Please don't be mad at me.) Not that Jo's not pretty she is but in a different way in a way that you don't usually go for and I'm just going to shut up now."

Andrew had to bite his tongue to stop himself from bursting out laughing. "Calm down man. I know what you mean. And you're right. But Jo she's different and in a good way. She doesn't paint her face with makeup and she doesn't act like she's helpless or dependent. She cares more about what's in her head than what is on it. For once I don't have a girlfriend who thinks of me as her personal servant to carry her shopping bags and chauffer her and her friends around or spend obscene amounts of money on some ridiculous gift she had to have. Jo's just amazing."

"Andrew man I'm happy for you and all but if you keep this up I'm going to puke on my homework before Ms. Smith has a chance to check it."

Little did they know Andrew's latest ex girlfriend Stacey (oboe player) was sitting a few seats away and heard everything Andrew said and was already concocting some evil plan in her head. Andrew had broken up with her back in July because she was too clingy and was always after him for money to buy things. Andrew finally got sick of it and called it off. But she was still convinced she could get him to take her back if she played her cards right.

The rest of the week went by uneventful. The students began to lighten up more. Prenton was leaving that was definite so they might as well enjoy the time they'll have left with him. The football game was a success the, hornets, had won and the band had a great performance.

It was finally Saturday and finally time for Andrew and Josephine's date. He wouldn't tell her where they were going but assured her she could dress casual. She wore a pair of simple blue jeans with a red v- neck blouse short sleeved blouse and light green jacket.

Andrew walked to her door at seven and was instantly greeted by her mother. Jo's parents knew about Andrew defending her so they liked him right off the bat. He shook hands with her father and then Jo walked out of her room. She was wearing simple cloths but he still thought she looked beautiful. Her hair was down and straightened and she had on a very light trace of make- up, it been just enough to bring out some of her features.

"Ready?" He asked her while handing her a single red rose.

"Yeah." They walked out of her house with her dad screaming be home by eleven.

Once they were settled in his car Jo asked "So are you going to tell me where were going?"

"Nope but we're almost there so you don't have to be inpatient much longer."

Jo stuck her tongue out at him but was grinning on the inside.

After about seven minutes they pulled up to a park. They got out of the car and Andrew got a basket and blanket out of the truck. "I thought we could have a picnic at the lake."

"That sounds really nice but I don't see a lake."

Andrew didn't reply to that he just grabbed her hand and lead her into the trees. He could tell Jo was getting nervous because she kept squeezing his hand tighter and tighter. Just as Andrew thought he was going to lose all feeling in his hand they came up to the lake.

"Wow. I never knew this was here." Jo looked around in awe while Andrew set up the picnic.

It really was a beautiful sight. There was an open area of grass looking over the lake and there was a full moon out that reflected off the water and dozens of stars filled this sky. It was the most beautiful and romantic thing Jo had ever seen.

"You hungry?" Andrew's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Mm Hm" She took a seat next to Andrew on the blanket. It was a nice spread, there was Alfredo pasta, and Italian bread with cheesecake for dessert.

"I didn't realize you were such a good cook." She said after taking a bite.

Andrew started scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Actually our butler made it.""Oh. I didn't realize you had a butler. Tell him that his cooing his delicious."

"Will do." They both fell into a comfortable silence while they enjoyed their meal. After they finished eating Andrew cleared the dishes into the picnic basket and pushed it over the side.

Andrew and Jo laid back on the blanket with Jo's head resting on Andrew's chest and they just gazed up at the sky.

"I always loved the moon," Jo said breaking the silence. "Ever since I was little I've always made sure to look for the moon before I fell asleep."

"So you're a night owl. You love the night. That is the complete opposite of me. I'm a day person. I have more energy during the day and I'm able to do more during the day. But you know what they say, opposites attract."

Jo snuggled up tighter to him. "I hope that's true then." She rolled over so she was hovering above him and pressed her lips gently to his.

The rest of night continued with them cuddling and sharing the occasional kiss while chatting about weird habits they both had. Like the fact that Andrew polished his Tuba every day or that Jo couldn't go anywhere without a book in case she was bored.

Jo walked through her door at 10:30 which pleased her dad since she was early. "Did you have a nice date honey?"

"Oh yeah" and she practically floated to her room.

Andrew pulled up to his house and had a spring in his step as he walked to the door. Jeffery (butler) was dusting the living room when Andrew walked in.

"Did you have a nice time Andrew?" Jeffery asked him although he could guess the answer by the large grin on his face.

"The best time. Oh and Josephine wanted me to tell you your cooking is amazing."

"I like her much better than the other girls you've dated." Jeffery said please that someone appreciated his cooking.

"But you've never met her." Andrew pointed out obviously.

"Yeah but none of your other girlfriends complemented my skills in the culinary arts."

They both shared a laugh at this. Jeffery had been with Andrew's family since he was born. He was practically a member of the family and was treated as such.


	9. Chapter 9

The intercom burst on through the speakers of the high school at 7:30 a.m. This was extremely unusual considering school had technically only been in session for 15 minutes.

"All band students need to report to the auditorium immediately, no exceptions!" Than the voice disappeared just as quickly as it had came.

Josephine looked to her teacher for a hint as to what to do, their class was about to take part in an important exam. But the teacher nodded at her giving her silent permission to leave the classroom. Josephine looked at her teacher and noticed sympathy in her eyes which scared Jo immensely.

She picked up her bag and slowly walked out of the room. Something didn't feel right. Prenton would never pull the entire band out of classes for anything. This thought only heightened Jo's anxiety. In the hallway she was greeted by other puzzled band kids who all rushed to the auditorium to figure out what was going on.

Once Jo entered the auditorium she began scanning the room until she spotted Andrew who was waving at her. She trotted up to where he had saved her a seat and joined the rest of the group in spitting out theories about why they had all been called there.

"I'm telling you guys practice was so bad yesterday that he wants to yell at us without taking any more time out of practices." Steven (clarinet section leader) said in a very confident tone.

Jo replied "I hope your right Steven but I doubt it."

Jo glanced over and noticed the freshman all huddled together in the front. None of them knew what was going on and sort of assumed this was a normal band procedure that they were about to take part in. Little did they know that what was about to unfold was anything but traditional.

The principal, Mr. Rogert, stepped onto the stage and began attempts at quieting the entire room down. But with a room of 200 confused band students it's difficult to maintain any kind of order. The drum majors looked at each other and at the same time stood up and blew their whistles and called the band to attention. Within a heart beat everyone was on their feet at attention.

"At ease, sit down, and shut up!" The head drum major ordered and then returned to his own seat and the rest of the band followed his lead.

"Thank you." Mr. Rogert continued. "Last night your band director Mr. Prenton had…" He paused and tried to compose himself. This was defiantly a bad sign. "He had a heart attack and didn't make it…" Mr. Rogert said more about how he went peacefully and felt no pain apparently there was also to be a memorial for him but no one in that room was listening.

As soon as 'didn't make it' was uttered from his lips nothing more needed to be said because no one could retain anymore. In that instant a pin dropping to the ground could be heard in that auditorium. Everyone remained completely still and quiet because everyone was thinking the same thing, maybe if 

no one said or did anything then it wouldn't be true as long as no one did anything to bring everyone back to the painful real world they could all pretend it wasn't true.

Unfortunately that sense of false hope couldn't last much longer in a room full of two hundred devastated students. Tears began streaming down student's faces, people reached out for one another's hands but still no one voiced a single word. There wasn't a word in the English language to express the pain that was just thrown on these student's hearts.

Their leader was dead. No more would they see his impala in the front parking spot that everyone at that school knew was his. No more would they hear his stories on life at UCLA while he played in their marching band and received his master's degree. No more would they see his face light up when they finally got a set right or received a superior at a festival. And no more would his old gentle self be there to comfort them, provide them with guidance, and make them feel as if they could do anything they set their minds to.

There are two hundred band members sitting in that one auditorium and never in all their lives have any of them ever felt so alone. Tears were pouring downs kid's faces like waterfalls and sniffles could be heard clear across the room, and hands were being squeezed so tight that circulation was being deprived but no one cared.

This man had changed the way they all thought of music. He introduced them to techniques none of them knew was possible. He enriched their lives with every type of music and based the programs around everyone's liking. He provided help with finances to students in financial hardships. He never turned away a person even if they had never picked up an instrument in their lives as long as they wanted to play he wanted them in his band.

After about 10 minutes one of the flute players stood up and walked to the middle of the room. She spun around in a slow circle and looked at all the pained faces around her. Without warning she fell to her knees and screamed "WHY?!" at the top of her lungs. Her body racked with sobs in the middle of the room. The remaining flute players got up and approached her and wrapped their arms around her. One by one more band students got up and joined them in the middle of the room. Right in the middle of the auditorium two hundred band students clung to each other as if their mere lives depended on it and they all cried. Some louder than others and some with fewer tears than others but there wasn't one band member in that room whose heart wasn't breaking.

The principal retreated to the back of the auditorium where the band booster president was watching the touching scene before her.

"I had no idea they were all so close." Mr. Rogert whispered to her careful not to disturb the weeping students.

"That's the problem, no one does. Everyone sees these kids playing at the half time show but no one ever really pays attention to them. They don't see what kind of magic happens in that band room when their all together. It's as if that band room is their secret clubhouse and music is the password. No one 

ever sees the love they all feel for their music, for each other, and for that wonderful man. And I don't think anyone saw how much that man loved every single one of them. I never understood what it was but there's something about music that connects people in this amazing way that I don't think outsiders like you and I will ever be able to understand."

"It's just you would think that outside of band they would all have their own separate worlds that they occupy outside and away from each other.

"That's where I would have to disagree Mr. Rogert you see their world is their music, this band, and each other."


End file.
